e princes of Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia joined the 

sury.[108] Although the rulers of the three

principalities continued to pay tribute to the Ottomans, the most talented princes—Gabriel Bethlen of
Transylvania, Matei Basarab of Wallachia, and Vasile Lupu of Moldavia—strengthened their
autonomy.[110]
The united armies of the Holy League expelled the Ottoman troops from Central Europe between
1684 and 1699, and thes in 1699.[112] The Church Union strengthened the Romanian intellectuals'
devotion to dan heritage.[113] The Orthodox Church was restored in Transylvania only after Orthodox
monks stirred up revolts in 1744 and 1759.[114] The organization of the Transylvanian Military
Frontier drther disturbances, esddddddcially among the Székelys in 1764.[115]
Princes Dimitrie Cantemir of Moldavia and Constantin Brâncoveanu of Wallachia concluded
alliances with the Habsburg
to grant their requests.[125][122]

Independence and monarchy

Main articles: Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, United Principalities, Romanian War of
Independence, and Kingdom of Romania

Changes in Romania's territory since 1859

The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca authorised the Russian ambassador in Istanbul to defend the

autonomy of Moldavia and Wallachia (known as the Danubian Principalities) in 1774.[126] Taking
advantage of the Greek War of Independence, a Wallachian lesser s Phanariot Greeks.[127] After
a new Russo-Turkish War, the Treaty of Adrianople strengthened the autonomy of the Danubian
Principalities in 1829, although it also acknowledged the sultan's right to confirm the election of the
princes.[128]f and Wallachia demanded the emancipation of the peasants and the union of the two
principalities, but Russian and Ottoman troops crushed their revolt. [129][130] The Wallachian
revolutionists were the first to adopt the blue, yellow and red tricolour as the national flag.[131] In
Transylvania, most Romanians supported the imperial government against the Hungarian
revolutionaries after the Diet passed a law concerning the union of Transylvania and Hungary.
[131]
 Bishop Andrei Șaguna proposed the unification of the Romanians of the Habsburg Monarchy in a
separate duchy, but the central government refused to change the internal borders. [132]
Alexandru Ioan Cuza was the first Domnitor (i.e. Prince) of Romania (at that time the United Principalities of
Wallachia and Moldavia) between 1862 and 1866

The Treaty of Paris put the Danubian Principalities under the collective guardianship of the Great
Powers in 1856.[130] After special assemblies convoked in Moldavia and Wallachia urged the
unification of the two principalities, the Great Powers did not prevent the election of Alexandru Ioan
Cuza as their collective domnitor (or ruling prince) in January 1859. [133] The united
principalities officially adopted the name Romania on 21 February 1862.[134] Cuza's government
carried out a series of reforms, including the secularisation of the property of monasteries and
agrarian reform, but a coalition of conservative and radical politicians forced him to abdicate in
February 1866.[135][136]
Cuza's successor, a German prince, Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (or Carol I), was elected in
May.[137] The parliament adopted the first constitution of Romania in the same year.[138] The Great
Powers acknowledged Romania's full independence at the Congress of Berlin and Carol I was
crowned king in 1881.[139] The Congress also granted the Danube Delta and Dobruja to Romania.
[139]
 Although Romanian scholars strove for the unification of all Romanians into a Greater Romania,
the government did not openly support their irredentist projects.[140]
The Transylvanian Romanians and Saxons wanted to maintain the separate status of Transylvania
in the Habsburg Monarchy, but the Austro-Hungarian Compromise brought about the union of the
province with Hungary in 1867.[141] Ethnic Romanian politicians sharply opposed the Hungarian
government's ds

World Wars and Greater Romania

Main articles: Romania during World War I, Greater Romania, and Romania in World War II
Late 19th century ethnic map of Central Europe depicting predominantly Romanian-inhabited territories in
blue. Hungarians are marked in yellow and Germans in pink.

Fearing Russian expansionism, Romania secretly joined the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-
Hungary, and Italy in 1883, but public opinion remained hostile to Austria-Hungary. [144][145] Romania
seized Southern Dobruja from Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War in 1913.[146] German and Austrian-
Hungarian diplomacy supported Bulgaria during the war, bringing about a rapprochement between
Romania and the Triple Entente of France, Russia and the United Kingdom.[146] The country remained
neutral when World War I broke out in 1914, but Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu started
negotiations with the Entente Powers.[147] After they promised Austrian-Hungarian territories with a
majority of ethnic Romanian population to Romania in the Treaty of Bucharest, Romania entered the
war against the Central Powers in 1916.[147][148] The German and Austrian-Hungarian troops defeated
the Romanian army and occupied three-quarters of the country by early 1917.[149] After the October
Revolution turned Russia from an ally into an enemy, Romania was forced to sign a harsh peace
treaty with the Central Powers in May 1918,[150] but the collapse of Russia also enabled the union of
Bessarabia with Romania.[151] King Ferdinand again mobilised the Romanian army on behalf of the
Entente Powers a day before Germany capitulated on 11 November 1918.[150]

King Carol I of Romania with his nephew Ferdinand I of Romania and great-nephew Carol II of Romania

Austria-Hungary quickly disintegrated after the war.[150] The General Congress of

Bukovina proclaimed the union of the province with Romania on 28 November 1918, and the Grand
National Assembly proclaimed the union of Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș with the
kingdom on 1 December.[152][153] Peace treaties with Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary delineated the new
borders in 1919 and 1920, but the Soviet Union did not acknowledge the loss of Bessarabia.
[154]
 Romania achieved its greatest territorial extent, expanding from the pre-war 137,000 to
295,000 km2 (53,000 to 114,000 sq mi).[155] A new electoral system granted voting rights to all adult
male citizens, and a series of radical agrarian reforms transformed the country into a "nation of small
landowners" be